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WHEN I WAS 



A BOY IN CHINA 



BY 

YAN PHOU LEE 




BOSTON 
D LOTHROP COMPANY 

FRANKLIN AND HAWLEY STREETS 



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Copyright, 1887, 

BY 

D. Lothrop Company. 



CONTENTS 



CHAPTER 

I. Infancy .... 

II. The House and Household 

III. Chinese Cookery . 

IV. Games and Pastimes 
V. Girls of my Acquaintance 

VI. Schools and School Life 

VII. Religions .... 

VIII. Chinese Holidays . 

IX. Stories and Story-Tellers 

X. How I went to Shanghai 

XI. HOW I PREPARED FOR AMERICA 

XII. First Experiences in America 



PAGB 

7 

17 

26 

34 
41 
So 
67 
72 
81 
92 

99 
105 



WHEN I WAS A BOY IN 
CHINA. 

CHAPTER I. 

INFANCY. 

ON a certain day in the year 1861, 1 was born. 
I cannot give you the exact* date, because 
the Chinese year is different from the English year, 
and our months being lunar, that is, reckoned by 
the revolution of the moon around the earth, are 
consequently shorter than yours. We reckon time 
from the accessions of Emperors, and also by cy- 
cles of sixty years each. The year of my birth, 
186 1, was the first year of the Emperor Tung-che. 
We have twelve months ordinarily ; and we say, in- 
stead of "January, February," etc.," Regular Moon, 
Second Moon, Third Moon," etc. Each third year 
is a leap year, and has an extra month so as to 

7 



8 WHEN I WAS A BOY IN CHINA. 

make each of the lunar years equal to a solar year. 
Accordingly, taking the English calendar as a stan- 
dard, our New Year's Day varies. Therefore, al- 
though I am sure that I was born on the twenty- 
first day of the Second Moon, in Chinese, I don't 
know my exact birthday in English ; and conse- 
quently, living in America as I have for many 
years, I have been cheated of my birthday celebra- 
tion. 

Being born a boy, there was a deal of rejoicing 
in the family, and among numerous relatives. If 
I had happened to be a girl, it would have been 
very different; the reason for which I will tell 
in a chapter on " Girls of my Acquaintance." My 
aged grandfather smiled with satisfaction when the 
news reached him in Fungshun, three hundred 
miles away to the East, where he was holding of- 
fice as Literary Sub-Chancellor. Congratulations 
poured in in the shape of presents of rich cloths, 
jewelry and pigs' feet. These gifts came a month 
after my birth, which day is always celebrated as 
a christening-day is in England. On that day, 
which we call the " Completion of the Moon," my 



INFANCY. 9 

name was given to me. I started with the surname 
" Lee " which my family and clan possess in com- 
mon; and to that "Yan Phou," which signifies 
"Wealth by Imperial Favor," was added — Lee Yan 
Phou. But I now arrange my name in accordance 
with American custom. 

The names given on those occasions are not like 
your " Jack," " Harry," or " Dick," but are usually 
words chosen " from the dictionary " for their 
lucky import, or because they are supposed to pos- 
sess the power of warding off evil influences in the 
child's horoscope. You should know that in China 
a baby's fortune is told almost as soon as he is 
born, the events of his life being foretold with sur- 
prising particularity. 

In order to ward off malignant influences from 
the future of their child, rich people often spend 
great sums of money. To some deities, especially 
to the God of Longevity, vows are made, and prom- 
ises of presents annually, if the god will protect 
baby and bring him through certain crises in his 
life ; and thus, willing or unwilling, the idol is sup- 
posed bound to be the child's tutelary guardian. 



IO WHEN I WAS A BOY IN CHINA. 

Also blind fortune-tellers are paid to intercede for 
the infant with their particular idol. If you were 
living in China, you would notice the strings of 
amulets which youngsters wear. They are some- 
times made of gold and silver; but often these 
necklaces are composed of mere scraps of paper 
with talismanic characters penned by priests ; they 
are supposed to be efficacious in scaring away evil 
spirits. The priests, fortune-tellers, lessees of tem- 
ples, clairvoyants, and astrologers drive a flourish- 
ing trade in these mysterious wares. For these 
charms, and the friendliness of the idols being a 
matter of life or death, of future happiness or 
misery to the beloved child, of course the poor are 
just as eager to spend money in this way as the 
rich, and through baby's life they continue to pay 
annual instalments of money for these things. 

On my christening-day friends came to see me 
and to congratulate my family, and a feast was made 
in my honor. When the guests departed they 
carried each a slice of roast pork as a return-gift. 
Roast pig is the national festal dish in China, as 
you will learn. No occasion is complete without 



INFANCY. 1 1 

it, whether it be a religious festival, the worship of 
ancestors, a wedding, or a birthday celebration. 
One feature of my christening feast was that my 
mother was permitted to have all she wanted of 
pigs' feet and ginger pickled together. It is be- 
lieved that baby's food will be more abundant if 
the mother eat plentifully of this delicacy. 

From what I have since observed I suppose that 
as it was the winter season I was wrapped in " swad- 
dling clothes ; " and I think the layers of garments 
would have caused the death of any ordinary 
American baby. First came much underwear of 
cotton cloth ; then a jacket ; then another jacket ; 
then a gown padded with cotton ; then still an- 
other quilted coat of bright calico ; and over all a 
bib. I wore a cap too, but no shoes until I was 
able to walk. My hair was shaved off except a 
small tuft, which was the beginning, the embryo, 
you may say, of the queue of the future. 

Speaking of the winter season : The climate in 
the city of my nativity is like that of Canton which 
lies seventy-five miles to the north. Although no 
snow falls, and although ice is an unknown qual- 



12 WHEN I WAS A BOY IN CHINA. 

ity there, yet the weather is sufficiently chilly to 
make a fire desirable. But Chinese houses, 
strangely enough I now think, are built for sum- 
mer, and to counteract heat rather than to keep off 
cold ; and no such furniture as a heating stove is 
known, neither furnaces, nor steam-heaters. So 
for warmth we resort to thick clothing, and all 
sleeves are cut long with that end in view. A 
funny consequence is that old and young look twice 
as big in winter as in summer. 

As a baby I had my playthings — bells, rattles 
and other knick-knacks. But there is no such 
blessed thing as a cradle among the Chinese in 
which baby may be soothed and rocked to sleep, 
neither the healthful, separate " crib." I had to 
sleep with my mother; and I have not a doubt 
that I used to cry a deal because I felt too warm, for 
the bedclothes — which were plentiful and heavily 
padded — would sometimes cover me all up and 
make it difficult for me to breathe. I would be suffo- 
cated, smothered, and of course I would cry ; and 
my mother would do everything except give me air 
and liberty; numberless were the medicines ad- 



INFANCY. 13 

ministered, for Chinese doctors pretend they can 
cure the crying of children at night. American 
mothers have no idea what impositions Chinese 
mothers suffer from physicians and sellers of 
charms, on account of their superstitious fears con- 
cerning the health and welfare of their children. 

In the daytime I used to sit in a bamboo chair 
which had a board in front that slid back and forth 
and served both as a table to hold my playthings 
and a lock to keep me in my seat, for it came up 
to my waist, so it was not possible for me to leap 
out. In this stiff fixture I used to sit hours at a 
time and watch my mother spin flax. 

Our Oriental tastes are too simple to contrive 
such luxuries as baby-carriages. We have instead 
our " carrying tie." This consists of a piece of thick 
cloth, about two feet square, lined inside, and em- 
broidered outside with beautiful figures, and having 
four bands sewed on, one at each corner. To put 
me into this cloth carriage, the one who was to 
carry me, my mother or a servant, would lean over; 
I was then laid on her back, the " carriage " thrown 
over me, and the upper bands tied around the 



14 WHEN I WAS A BOY IN CHINA. 

bosom of the carrier, the lower ones around her 
waist. My legs, of course, dangled outside ; but 
it was nevertheless a very comfortable seat for me, 
though I doubt if it were so pleasant for the one 
who lugged me about. The primary object of this 
contrivance was to get me to sleep, and many a fine 
nap I must have had in my " carriage." If I per- 
sisted in keeping awake, my carrier would sing to 
me a lullaby which, being ordinary conversation put 
to music more or less tuneful, is hardly worth a 
translation. 

My earliest recollections are of a sitting-room on 
the ground floor of my grandsire's house, the right 
wing of which was assigned to my father at the time 
of his marriage. It was very long and narrow, with 
bare brick walls in which no windows opened upon 
the street ; all the light and ventilation came through 
a long narrow opening in the roof. Rain came 
through too, as well as light and air, and had to be 
drained off. 

The furniture of this room was simple ; a bam- 
boo sofa, a square table, a few stiff-backed chairs, 
three long and narrow benches and a couple of 



INFANCY. IS 

stools. This ascetic simplicity in furnishings may 
be noticed everywhere in China ; nowhere are even 
the rich inclined to indulge in luxury to any ex- 
tent. 

I remember very well the comfortless Chinese 
bed. Boards took the place of springs, and benches 
supported these boards. In ours, surmounting all 
was a heavy canopy frame, which, when new, was 
evidently gilded and carved. By this frame was 
suspended mosquito nettings, an absolutely neces- 
sary arrangement. The ground was our floor, 
overlaid with bricks a foot square as carpet. No 
chimney was to be seen anywhere, no heating 
apparatus, hardly any ornaments. In summer these 
rooms were cool and comfortable ; but the winter's 
wind and cold rendered them cheerless. 

There is only one event of my infant life worthy 
of record, the death of my adopted father. He was 
my father's brother and had accompanied my 
grandfather to the city of his literary administra- 
tion. He was but a youth of twenty-one, unmar- 
ried and studying for the public examinations. 
On his deathbed, he designated me as his adopted 



1 6 WHEN I WAS A BOY IN CHINA. 

son and heir. My grandfather ratified the choice, 
so that without my consent I was transferred from 
my father's hands into my uncle's. 

This mode of adoption is common. Usually the 
adopted son belongs to the same family or clan, 
but not always ; in any case he has the rights, privi- 
leges and duties of a born son. Among the rights 
may be mentioned the inheriting of property, and 
among the duties the annual offerings at the family 
altar and the grave, and the daily burning of re- 
membrance incense. » 



CHAPTER II. 

THE HOUSE AND HOUSEHOLD. 

BABYHOOD is the most enjoyable stage in the 
life of an Oriental. It is the only period 
when his wishes are regarded and when demon- 
strations of affection are shown him. The family 
regulations in China are such that so soon as a 
child begins to understand, he is not only taught 
to obey, but also loses his freedom of action ; nor 
does he fully recover it till he is old and past the 
brief season of youthful enjoyment. 

Every person in China is in strict subjection to 
somebody. The child is subject to his parents or 
guardian. They, in turn, are subject to their pa- 
rents, who are liable to be called to account by the 
elders of the clan. The magistrate is considered 
the father of the people he rules over ; and the 
Emperor stands in the same relation to his sub- 
*7 



l8 WHEN I WAS A BOY IN CHINA. 

jects as the father to his children. Women are 
subject to their fathers or husbands. All are sub- 
ject to the national laws. 

Accordingly obedience and respect, rather than 
affection, are required of the Chinese child. His 
home-life, therefore, is constrained, sober and dull. 
The boy attains to the ideal character only when 
he habitually checks his affectionate impulses, sup- 
presses his emotions and is uniformly respectful 
to his superiors and uniformly dignified with his 
inferiors. Therefore the child is early taught to 
walk respectfully behind his superiors, to sit only 
when he is bidden, to speak only when questions 
are asked him, and to salute his superiors by the 
correct designations. It would be the height of im- 
propriety for him to mention his father's name, or 
call his uncles and elder brothers by their names. 
(Children call their father " A-de," or "A-ye, n 
which corresponds to papa in English. Mamma 
in Chinese is " A-ma." The syllable A is prefixed 
for the sake of euphony or convenient pronuncia- 
tion. In the same way, we say, " A-suk " for uncle, 
"A-&o" for elder brother, " A-ka " elder sister. Cous- 



THE HOUSE AND HOUSEHOLD. 1 9 

ins on one's father's side are reckoned as brothers.) 
He must rise from his seat when they approach 
him. If he is taken to task for anything he has 
done, he must never contradict, never seek to ex- 
plain. Such an offence is not easily forgiven and 
double punishment is likely to immediately over- 
take the offender. How often have I rued my 
imprudence in contradicting my parents, uncles or 
teachers! Often I was but simply trying to give 
the explanation of seemingly bad conduct. But 
the Chinese take no explanations from those sub- 
ject to them. It is better for an accused son, 
pupil, or servant to suffer punishment in silence 
although he may be conscious of no wrong doing. 
This seems very unreasonable ; and, in fact, it does 
foster sullenness and a spirit of rebellion which 
fear alone keeps under. But the Chinese deem 
this method absolutely necessary for the preserva- 
tion of authority. In every household the rattan 
stick is always ready to the hand of the majestic 
wrath of outraged family law. It is not my inten- 
tion to represent the Chinese as naturally cruel. 
They are not. They simply maintain family dis- 



20 WHEN I WAS A BOY IN CHINA. 

cipline by customs handed down from one gener- 
ation to another. Fathers and teachers have un- 
dergone the same training. The customs of their 
ancestors enjoin it, the teachings of Confucius 
prescribe it, and the laws of the empire arm it with 
authority. 

Indeed, among the lower and less educated 
classes, we find family discipline less strict than 
among the higher orders of our people. I hap- 
pened to be born into the higher middle condition 
of life. There is no such thing as caste in China, 
in the sense that caste exists in India. In China, 
wealth, and literary and official honors ennoble a 
family and can lift it from a lower to a higher plane. 
The regulations and government of my family were 
as rigorous as possible. I lived the years of my 
childhood in a shrinking condition of mind. Like 
all youngsters, I wanted to shout, jump, run about, 
snow my resentments, and my affections, give my 
animal spirits and affectionate impulses full play. 
But like a colt in training for the harness I was 
checked and curbed, my tongue was bridled, and 
my feet clogged, by fear of my elders. My father 



THE HOUSE AND HOUSEHOLD. 21 

was a stern man as was his father before him. I 
remember him vividly by the beatings I got from 
him. 

Yet he was truly good and kind. 

Though the times when I required punishment 
were comparatively rare, I remember a constant 
sense of dread lest I should do something out of 
the way of a well-bred Chinese Jad. The bamboo 
rod hung over my head like the sword of Damocles. 
My mother (who is still living) saved me from its 
blows many a time by giving me timely warning or 
by keeping my misdemeanors from my father's 
knowledge. But she was not so foolishly indul- 
gent as to spare me when I truly deserved punish- 
ment. 

Our immediate family consisted of my parents, 
a brother four years older than I, one two years 
younger, and myself. I had two sisters who had 
died before my birth ; by the course of nature, let 
me add, for the horrible practice of female infanti- 
cide was in our part of the empire only heard of 
in stories, and not without a shudder. 

I have previously said we occupied a part of my 



22 



WHEN I WAS A BOY IN CHINA. 



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grandfather's house. The building had only one 
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PLAN OF A CHINESE HOUSE. 



of the Romans. There 
were five of them in 
our house. Through 
them came air, wind 
and rain. You may 
easily conjecture that such openings in Chinese 
houses must be favorite entrances and exits for 
burglars and thieves. At night there seems to be 
no protection against such gentry except the wake- 
fulness and bravery of watchmen, who, by striking 
the hour of night on a piece of bamboo in going 
the rounds, only warn the burglars to keep out of 
sight while they are near. The Chinese watchman 
serves the double purpose of a patrolman and a 
perambulating clock; and although clocks are in 



THE HOUSE AND HOUSEHOLD. 23 

common use, my countrymen have not yet em- 
ployed bells to toll the hour for the whole city. 

If you examine the plan, you will see that there 
is only one regular entrance to the house. Hav- 
ing passed the door, you will be in the vestibule 
which opens on the large compluvium by three pairs 
of doors, all of which are thrown ajar on grand 
occasions ; but ordinarily only a side pair are left 
open. Having passed them and descended by one 
step into the compluvium, you have a full view of 
the audience hall which is decorated and used on 
great occasions, as New Year's days, weddings, 
funerals, birthday celebrations, or for extraordinary 
events, as the reception of distinguished guests, etc. 
On either hand are the two wings, library, and men's 
living rooms. The only passage to the women's 
apartments is through this audience hall. On 
that side also are three pairs of doors, two of which 
are usually closed, only the pair on the extreme 
right being in daily use. A screen stands before 
this entrance ; for the worst thing that can happen 
is to have male visitors look into the women's apart- 
ments and see the female members of the family. 



24 WHEN I WAS A BOY IN CHINA. 

My grandmother occupied the chamber back of 
the ladies' parlor, for that is usually considered the 
best room on account of its central location. The 
left wing back was occupied by an uncle and his 
family. Behind this section of the house was the 
kitchen and the chambers for servants and daugh- 
ters of the house. The garden had a well, from 
which the women drew water. I trust I impress 
upon you that the house was divided into two por- 
tions ; the front belonging to the men and the rear 
to the women. My grandfather's rule was that no 
lady of the family should pass the boundary line 
except on " occasions." 

I make no mention of cellars because there were 
none. The house-walls were of slate-colored brick, 
the roof of tiles laid over slats and beams increas- 
ing in height from the vestibule to the garden. The 
rooms were lofty and airy, and but for storms and 
the winter's wind would have been comfortable. 

As I have before said, the house was plainly fur- 
nished. The audience hall was the festival room. 
A long table in the centre, with interesting vases 
and curios, stood behind a square one of mahog- 



THE HOUSE AND HOUSEHOLD. 25 

any. They were flanked by two rows of chairs of 
the same material, with tea-poys between that 
served to hold the tea-cups of guests. A couple of 
easy folding-chairs lined with leather, stood in front. 
On the walls were water-color paintings and scrolls. 



CHAPTER III. 



CHINESE COOKERY. 



THE housekeeping was likewise simple. My 
grandmother was the head of the family dur- 
ing her husband's absence, and she had always the 
management of the minor affairs of the entire estab- 
lishment. She it was who assigned the duties and 
superintended the work of the servants, and the 
employments of the daughters, and the daughters- 
in-law. We had a hired cook, several maid-ser- 
vants and a man-servant, so that there was never 
a need that the ladies of our family should soil 
their dainty hands or weary their delicate feet. My 
grandmother, however, had her own ideas about 
work, and used to arrange that her daughters should 
not be idle or ignorant. 

The hour for rising was between six and seven a. m. 

The children of the household had to go to school 
26 



CHINESE COOKERY. 2/ 

at seven ; and the men had business to attend to. 

As soon as day dawned, the servants were stir- 
ring. They swept the brick floors, and having 
heated some water, they would go to wake their 
respective mistresses, placing the warmed water 
before them for the morning toilet. As each 
emerged from his or her slumber, greetings were 
scrupulously exchanged. We Chinese say " Early 
morning ! " instead of " Good morning ! " The 
servants were then sent out to market to buy the 
materials for breakfast. Let us follow them. 

After winding in and out through narrow streets 
flanked with blank walls, the monotony broken 
only by doorways, we come to the business portion 
of the city. We emerge into a scene of life and 
animation. Men and servant-girls are either on 
their way to market or returning, carrying wicker 
baskets of eels, fish, pork, vegetables. Here are 
incense-shops, butcher-shops and grocery-stores, 
fish-stalls and vegetable-stands. The stone pave- 
ment is slippery with mud. The din is deafening. 
The present stage in the development of trade in 
China does not admit of one price for one's wares. 



28 WHEN I WAS A BOY IN CHINA. 

The seller and buyer must wrangle for minutes 
over a few mills. Time is of no consideration. A 
man will go through and through the market, lis- 
tening to what others are giving, pricing everything 
for himself, and at the same time beating the price 
down so low that the hawker will not agree to sell. 
Our servants having, after much haggling, pro- 
cured the wherewithal for breakfast, let us return 
to our kitchen and see the meal prepared. Your 
first exclamation is sure to be, " How smoky it is ! 
Oh, stifling ! Let us come away ! " Well, this 
kitchen certainly is not so cosey and neat as Ameri- 
can kitchens usually are. The smoke does not go 
out by chimney, but through the skylight and 
wherever it finds an outlet. The walls are black 
with the accumulation of years of soot. That large 
stove in the corner is built of brick. The smoke 
issues through an aperture in the back and curls 
upward through the opening into the clear sky. On 
the top of this stove is a large round iron spider 
about three feet in diameter. In this rice is cook- 
ing. Straw being cheaper, is burnt in this stove in- 
stead of wood, and some one is required to feed the 



CHINESE COOKERY. 29 

fire constantly. Turning to the left, we see little 
clay stoves, on which food is frying in spiders, or 
boiling in earthen pots, over a wood fire. Grand- 
' mother and her daughters are superintending the 
various preparations. Vegetables are cut into bits 
and boiled with pork or mutton, making a soup. 
Greens are boiling. Fish is steaming, frying, or 
stewing with or without vegetable. Meat is cut 
fine ; when the spider becomes heated lard is put 
in it, then pieces of onion, then the shred meat, and 
all is stirred till well embrowned; then turnips, 
potatoes, and sometimes other vegetables are added 
and, after boiling water is poured in, the whole 
is left to simmer and stew. All food, we observe, 
is cut in pieces before being cooked, or else before 
serving. For no knives, no forks, are used. 

At ten a. m. the tables are set ; those for men 
either in the wings, or in their rooms ; those for 
the women in their common sitting-room or parlor. 
Each table will seat eight persons. No table linen 
is used. Chop-sticks and spoons are placed before 
each place. The food is brought in large bowls or 
plates. Rice is carried to the table in a wooden 



30 WHEN I WAS A BOY IN CHINA. 

pail or wicker basket, from which it is served in 
small bowls. The servants summon the inmates 
to breakfast. The younger ones do not presume 
to sit till their elders are seated ; then after making 
a show of asking permission to eat, when the elders 
gravely nod assent, the breakfast begins. Soup is 
taken first; then each person, holding the chop- 
sticks in the right hand and the bowl of rice in the 
left, lifts his food to his mouth, pushes the lumps 
in with the sticks, alternating this motion with 
picking meat, fish or vegetables from the dishes 
which are common to all. One must take only 
from that side of the plate which is nearest to him, 
however. It is a breach of etiquette to reach over 
to the opposite side. When one finishes, he bids 
the rest to "eat leisurely," which is our mode of 
saying, " Excuse me ! " The Chinese invariably 
wash their hands and faces after every meal. 

Tea is drank about the same time. It is taken 
without milk or sugar. Coffee is not common in 
China, and we are not accustomed to drink cold 
water. Tea is the national beverage and is taken to 
assuage thirst at all times and occasions as water is 



CHINESE COOKERY. 3 1 

in America. At noon a lunch of cakes or pastry 
may be served. The majority of people are satis- 
fied with two meals a day. Supper, or dinner, is 
served at five p. m. 

In the interval between the two meals, the ladies 
of our family sewed, spun flax, embroidered or 
received company, that is, their lady friends who 
come in sedan-chairs, some to make short visits, some 
to spend the day. Guests were regaled at noon 
with confections and pastry, but tea was always 
presented to a guest soon after arrival. It would 
have been uncourteous to omit it. In the evening, 
after the lamps were lighted, the ladies, young and 
old, would sit down to a game of dominoes, tell sto- 
ries, or gossip. 

A peculiar feature in Chinese domestic arrange- 
ments is that when sons are married they continue 
to live with their parents, while daughters, when 
married, are expected to live with their husband's 
parents. Such an arrangement often causes a deal 
of trouble, and most of the domestic infelicity in 
Chinese home-life is ascribed to it. But the cus- 
tom has been handed down from time immemorial, 



, 



32 WHEN I WAS A BOY IN CHINA. 

each succeeding generation being educated for it. 
It sometimes happens that the mother-in-law and 
the daughter-in-law are suited to each other and 
live pleasantly together; but this presumes that 
both entertain exalted views of duty and are 
blessed with forbearing natures and yielding dispo- 
sitions. The Chinese say that all depends on the 
son and husband ; if he be dutiful to his parents 
and strict in family discipline, he can prevent do- 
mestic broils ; if he only shut his ear against the 
complaints of his wife, peace will be preserved. 
But the son and husband is apt to lean to one side 
or the other, so either harbors resentment towards 
his mother or acts unjustly towards his wife. The 
father usually steers clear of the trouble, though 
he sometimes acts as peacemaker. Then again 
if the mother-in-law gets along well with one of her 
daughters-in-law, it is not certain that she can with 
the rest, or that the latter can get along peacefully 
with one another. 

" Every family has a skeleton in the closet," it 
is said here in America. It is no less true of Chi- 
nese families. 



CHINESE COOKERY. 33 

My grandmother's was a character that inspired 
respect; so she had little trouble in the manage- 
ment of her large family. She had administra- 
tive talent of a high order, and therefore a fair 
share of household happiness fell to our lot. 



CHAPTER IV. 



GAMES AND PASTIMES. 



THE active sports of Chinese boys are few. 
There are hardly any sports, so-called, that 
develop the muscles and render a lad graceful and 
agile. The Chinese boy at sixteen is as grave and 
staid as an American grandfather ; and if he hap- 
pens to be married soon after, he throws aside most 
games as being childish. At the best, he has noth- 
ing corresponding to base-ball, foot-ball, cricket, 
bicycle-riding, skating, sliding, or tennis. Nor is 
he fond of exerting himself. He would rather sit 
for hours talking and joking than waste time in run- 
ning or jumping. He thinks it work if his play 
entails much perspiration. His elders, too, frown 
upon boisterous games. They approve quiet, medi- 
tative lads who are given to study. 

But you must not suppose that the Chinese boy 
34 



GAMES AND PASTIMES, 35 

never plays at all. In spite of many obstacles, he 
proves that he is a boy still, and I will describe the 
outdoor amusements in which he does indulge. 

Kite-flying is a national recreation. Young and 
old take part in it and it is not unusual to see a 
gray-haired man enjoying it in company with a ten- 
year-old youngster. Kites are of all sizes. I have 
seen kites that were six or seven feet from wing to 
wing. The frame is made of bamboo slips which 
can be easily bent. Over this is pasted very stout 
rice-paper, upon which strong figures are painted — 
sometimes the face of a man, sometimes a bird. 
On the larger kites a bow is fastened at the top r 
with a reed instead of a string, and when the wind 
blows upon this reed, a melodious sound will be 
heard through the air, that greatly delights every- 
body; it seems to the spectators a mysterious 
voice from a different sphere. 

Kite-flying in America can be much improved. 
Kites should be constructed of the Chinese shape. 

The rib that runs through both wings should 
bulge out so that the paper on both sides may cave 
in. This is for the purpose of catching and retain- 



36 



WHEN I WAS A BOY IN CHINA. 



ing the wind as well as of steadying the kite. To 
a kite of this shape a tail is needless. 

To fly such a kite, the cord must be very strong, 

and often it re- 



lftou- 




FRAME OF A CHINESE KITE. 



quires two or 
three men to 
hold it. When 
it gets among 
the clouds, and 
the flyer's en- 
thusiasm is at 
its boiling-point, 
a paper butter- 
fly, b e a utif ully 
colored, is fas- 
ten e d on the 



cord and the wind sends it up with a whizzing 
sound to the kite itself. But when it touches the 
kite, the butterfly's wings come together, and down 
it returns, by its own weight, bringing a message 
from the skies, and its graceful approach is watched 
breathlessly. 

The ninth day of the ninth month, which comes 



GAMES AND PASTIMES. 37 

in October, is " Kites' Day." On that day it is the 
fashion to go up high hills and hold communion 
with heavenly zephyrs. Such a scene is inspiring. 
Men and boys, of all ranks, sizes and ages, are 
seen with cords in their hands, pulling, yanking and 
jerking, or letting loose, all sorts of agile rice-paper 
monsters in the azure sky. The fun consists in 
making the kites fight — in entangling them and 
cutting one another's strings by sudden jerks. 

There is a story to account for the origin of the 
Kites' Day. Back in the world's history, when 
Time was yet a boy, a man, while working in the 
field, was told by a passing stranger with an august 
mien, that a terrible plague was about to visit his 
house on the ninth day of the ninth month, and 
that the only way to escape was to hie to a high hill 
near by. After giving this warning, the stranger 
disappeared mysteriously. This man, who was, by 
the way, a good man, went home, and getting his 
whole family together before the fatal day arrived, 
set out with them to the hill designated and re- 
mained there all day. To while away the time 
probably, his children flew their kites. Hence the 



38 WHEN I WAS A BOY IN CHINA. 

custom. After sunset, they went home and found 
that all their cattle, chickens and ducks had died. 
This proved that they themselves had been saved 
by the intervention of some deity. Ever since, 
people have made the day a national holiday. 

Kicking the shuttlecock is a favorite outdoor 
amusement with both boys and gentlemen. The 
shuttlecock consists of a bunch of feathers stuck in 
small, round pieces of leather, or pasteboard, and 
tied together by a string. The game is to kick it 
when it is served to you and not allow it to drop 
on the ground. When one muffs, he has to serve 
some one else. From two to six persons can play. 
Skilful players will keep the shuttlecock above 
ground for some time. We also have something 
which is a feeble apology for the manly sport of 
base-ball. A piece of snake-skin is wound around 
with yarn till it attains the size of a billiard ball. 
Boys in China toss it, or make it bound, as Ameri- 
can boys do their rubber balls. 

Penny-tossing, or rolling, carries out the idea of 
marbles. But it is not considered a nice game, and 
only bad boys indulge in it. Swimming is not pop- 



GAMES AND PASTIMES. 39 

ular, although many Chinese boys learn to swim. 

Fishing means work with the Chinese. A man, 
or boy, goes a-fishing simply for the fish, and not 
for the fun ; and I am of the opinion that my 
countrymen are right. 

Of indoor games and pastimes there is only a 
small list. Since young ladies and gentlemen are 
not allowed, in China, to enjoy one another's 
society, dancing is, of course, out of the question. 
A Chinese gentleman would consider it foolishness 
and an insensate waste of time to hop about and 
twirl around for a whole night. Amusements re- 
quiring so much exertion are not to his taste ; and 
as for throwing his arm around a girl's waist in 
the whirl of the waltz, a Chinese gentleman would 
not permit himself such an indecorum. Accord- 
ingly, gentlemen's indoor pastimes are cricket-fight- 
ing and quail-fighting. 

Cricket-fighting is a sort of passion, or craze, 
with some Chinese. In the cricket season, men 
and boys hunt for them by the wayside, or among 
thickets on the mountains. When caught they are 
fed and afterwards tested as to their fighting quali- 



40 WHEN I WAS A BOY IN CHINA. 

ties. A good fighter will fetch quite a large sum. 

Dominoes is a game played by men and women as 
well as children. It is different from the American 
game, being more like the card game of whist. 

Guessing Pennies always furnishes much amuse- 
ment to little boys and girls. Chinese coins are 
made of brass and copper, with a square hole in 
the middle for convenience in carrying. On one 
side is a legend in Chinese giving the name of the 
emperor's reign and the words " Tung-pao" i. e. f 
currency. The game is to guess the name of the 
reign, when the coin is turned upside down. An- 
other game is played around fruit-stand ; it is to 
guess the number of seeds in an orange. The loser 
pays for the orange while the winner eats it. 

There are not many games in which boys and 
girls play together. If they do play together it is 
only while they are children, under ten or twelve. 
Growing-up girls will have nothing whatever to do 
with boys, though Chinese boys and girls are very 
sociable, each with friends of their own sex. 



CHAPTER V. 

GIRLS OF MY ACQUAINTANCE. 

I STILL continually find false ideas in America 
concerning Chinese customs, manners, and 
institutions. Small blame to the people at large, 
who have no means of learning the truth except 
through newspapers or accounts of travellers who 
do not understand what they see in passing through 
our country. From the time of Sir John Mande- 
ville, travellers (with a few noble exceptions) have 
vied with each other in relating the most wonder- 
ful stories about our ancient empire. Accordingly, 
what I tell in this series of articles about Chinese 
customs, manners and institutions may often con- 
tradict general belief. 

There is far less of truth told about the "fair 
section" of the Chinese people than of the 
sterner sex, because far less is known. What I my- 
41 



42 WHEN I WAS A BOY IN CHINA. 

self propose to tell is chiefly derived from daily 
observation of the female members of my family and 
those of my kindred. Very distant relatives are 
recognized in China; a man prides himself upon 
the large number of his connections as well as upon 
the influence his family exert in the community on 
account of wealth or position. A " poor relation " 
there is treated with much more consideration and 
affection than in this country. Generosity towards 
that class of unfortunates is so common, and its 
practice is so strenuously insisted upon, in the moral 
code of the Chinese, that it almost ceases to be an 
individual virtue — it is a national virtue. 

Of the numerous cousins, aunts and other fair 
relatives that fell to my earthly lot several lived in 
the same house with us, under the superintendence 
of my grandmother, as I have before said ; there 
were two aunts who were then too young to marry, 
two aunts by marriage, and three young cousins 
in the house. Then on the same street dwelt about 
thirty or forty families, all related to us by blood, 
whose female members it was my privilege, as a 
relative and as a youngster, to see often. I assure 



GIRLS OF MY ACQUAINTANCE. 43 

you they comprised among them girls of all sorts of 
tempers and characters. The gentle, refined and 
modest stood side by side with the rough, uncul- 
tured and forward. There were good-looking ones, 
and there were homely ones. 

Let me add that these girls had not been " killed 
during their infancy." I am indignant that there 
should be a popular belief in America that Chinese 
girls at their birth are generally put to death be- 
cause they are not wanted by their parents. Noth- 
ing can be further from the truth. In a country 
like China, where women do not appear in public 
life, it must follow that sons are more to be desired, 
for the very good reasons that family honor and 
glory depend on them and ancestral worship neces- 
sitates either the birth or adoption of sons to per- 
petuate it. I venture to say that in proportion to 
population and distribution of wealth that infanti- 
cide is as rare in China as it is in this country. 
Extremely poor people, finding it hard to keep even 
themselves alive, often prefer to " make way " with 
their babies rather than see them slowly starve to 
death. With them, girl-babies are more often sac- 



44 WHEN I WAS A BOY IN CHINA. 

rificed because boys are readily adopted by rich 
and childless persons, while the female infants 
rarely can be thus provided for. But let it be un- 
derstood that there are established in every good- 
sized town infant hospitals in which these waifs are 
kept and brought up with care by means of funds 
furnished by good people. The same ceremonies 
of christening are observed with girl babies, and 
though relatives may growl, they nevertheless bring 
the customary presents of cloth, jewelry and pigs' 
feet. 

In spite of the restraint all Chinese children are 
subject to, we little boys and girls used to have 
good times together. Among the boys were two 
brothers of mine and a whole troop of cousins of 
whom five were about my age. We used to play 
cat's-cradle, puss-in-the-corner, jack-straws and 
jack-stones, the girls (all the way from four to eight 
years of age) taking as much interest in the games 
as we did. Of course at any time when the gen- 
tlemen of the family were present, we used to sit 
as quiet as mice and as demure as monks and nuns. 

In those games which depend on dexterity and 



GIRLS OF MY ACQUAINTANCE. 45 

activity, we boys were winners ; but when it came 
to games demanding skill, patience, quick wit and 
delicacy of touch, we were distanced by the girls. 

Many a quarrel did we have as points of dispute 
came up ; and often one of our set would not speak 
to another, or would even cut the whole of us for 
days together on account of some unfair play. 
Those little tiffs seemed to be of momentous im- 
portance then. But the boy whose heart swells 
with indignation at that which offends his sense of 
justice is likely to grow up a true man after all. 

But our chief amusement and delight was to 
hear stories; especially those about fairies and 
ghosts. Oh ! the blood-curdling stories that we 
were privileged to hear. They were enough to set 
anybody's teeth a-chattering and to stand his hair 
on end. They were always told in a low, sepul- 
chral tone of voice, and the lamps were turned 
down, which very much heightened the artistic 
effect. We were also entertained with healthful 
anecdotes, such as scraps of history or biographical 
sketches of China's great men and famous women. 
But when we coaxed " real hard," we could gener- 



46 WHEN I WAS A BOY IN CHINA. 

ally get some one to tell us stories of goblins, imps 
that haunted the forests, spectres that dwelt in old 
coffins, and witches and fairies that were good to 
those who pleased them. After listening to a glow- 
ing account of their antics and deeds, good or 
mischievous, it was useless to attempt making me 
go to bed alone or without a light. Even when 
some one accompanied me with a light, I never 
felt safe until I had covered my head with the bed- 
clothes. That superstitious dread haunts me yet, 
especially when walking alone in the dark. I think 
it is impossible that I shall ever outgrow it. 

When between six and eight years of age, my 
girl-cousins took that step which affected all their 
after-lives. At that age all well-born Chinese misses 
have their feet bound. It is a fashion they are obliged 
to follow. If they should not, they would not be 
recognized as ladies when they grow up, and they 
would become a disgrace to their families. Chinese 
aristocrats are as proud and jealous of their good 
name as the bluest-blooded of European nobles. 
Anything that lowers them in the eyes of their 
neighbors is carefully guarded against. Accord- 



GIRLS OF MY ACQUAINTANCE. 47 

ingly, only the daughters of poor and humble par- 
ents are permitted by society to retain the feet as 
nature bestowed them. 

The process of binding is a gradual one. From 
first to last, bands are wound around the tender 
feet to prevent their growth ; but at first shoes are 
worn nearly as large as the natural size ; in a year 
or so the shoes will have to be smaller, and as the 
feet decrease in size till they attain to three or two 
and a half inches in length, so shoes are made to 
fit the lessened foot. But oh ! the suffering that 
goes with it. This never has been exaggerated in 
any account. Many a time have I heard my cou- 
sins groan with pain as the tortures of binding were 
being undergone. Yet, strange to say, those girls 
would not have had exemption from the process, 
on any account. To be ranked as servants, working 
girls ? Not they. The Chinese young lady chooses 
to be fashionable even though she undergo torture 
for several years and incur helplessness for life. 

Don't imagine, however, that Chinese ladies are 
unable to move. They can, most of them, walk 
short distances. But it is true that the spirit is 



48 WHEN I WAS A BOY IN CHINA. 

taken out of them by this species of suffering, and 
that they are oppressed by a sense of physical help- 
lessness and dependence. 

The work that little girls in China do is light. 
Trifling things about the cooking, such as shelling 
of peas or assorting of greens, were given over to 
my girl-cousins. Between meals, the little girls 
were taught to sew, embroider and to spin flax. 
They were never so happy as when a group of them 
sat together at work ; one would tell a story, an- 
other would follow with a ballad, singing it with 
that peculiar plaintive tone which is considered a 
part of the ballad's charm. My cousins were 
early taught to read and write, and in company 
with us boys, until they were eleven or twelve ; 
then they were thought too old to be left in the 
society of boys very much; especially was it so after 
gome young strangers came to our school, which 
was established in the men's living rooms. 

In closing this chapter, I wish to call attention 
to the fact that Chinese girls — though you may 
think they lead a humdrum sort of life, though it 
be true that they are strangers to the exciting 



GIRLS OF MY ACQUAINTANCE. 49 

gayeties enjoyed by American girls — are usually 
contented and think their lot a pleasant one. It 
is the custom, I am aware, to represent Chinese 
young ladies as languishing in their apartments 
and contemplating with tearful eyes the walls that 
confine them. To be sure, they do not have that 
excess of liberty by which some American girls are 
spoiled ; yet they are not kept under lock and 
key. They have that liberty which is consistent 
with our ideas of propriety. They make visits, 
they call on their neighbors, they go to theatres, 
they see the sights, they witness boat-races and do 
many pleasant and social things besides. But 
whatever they do, there is always this limit — they 
are not permitted the acquaintance of young men. 
And when they are married, they are restricted to 
the society of their husbands. You perhaps think 
their existence a failure. They look upon the sort 
of life that American girls lead as very improper. 



CHAPTER VI. 

SCHOOLS AND SCHOOL LIFE. 

SCHOOLS in China are usually kept by private 
gentlemen. The government provides for 
advanced scholars only. But since the one quali- 
fication for office is education, and the avenue to 
literary distinction and public honors lies through 
competitive examinations, the encouragement that 
the government extends to education and learn- 
ing can be estimated only by that eager pursuit of 
knowledge which is common to all classes, and by 
the veneration in which scholars and scholarship 
are held. 

Therefore it is not strange that schools are to 
be found everywhere, in small hamlets as in large 
towns, although the government appropriates no 
funds for the establishment of common schools ; 
and although no such thing is known as " compul- 
5° 



SCHOOLS AND SCHOOL LIFE. 51 

sory education," there is a general desire, even 
among the poorest classes, to give their children 
" a little schooling." Schools of the lower grades 
never boast more than one teacher each. The 
combination system of a head-master and several 
assistants does not work well in China. The 
schoolmaster in China must be absolute. He is 
monarch of all he surveys ; in his sphere there is 
none to dispute his rights. You can always point 
him out among a thousand by the scholar's long 
gown, by his stern look, by his bent form, by his 
shoulders rounded by assiduous study. He is 
usually near-sighted, so that an immense pair of 
spectacles also marks him as a trainer of the mind. 
He generally is a gentleman who depends on his 
teaching to make both ends meet ; — his school is 
his own private enterprise — for no such thing ex- 
ists in China as a " school-board " and if he be an 
elegant penman, he increases the weight of his 
purse by writing scrolls; if he be an artist, he 
paints pictures on fans. If he has not taken a de- 
gree, he is a perennial candidate for academic hon- 
ors which the government only has a right to confer. 



52 WHEN I WAS A BOY IN CHINA. 

A tuition fee in China varies according to the 
ability and reputation of the teacher, from two dol- 
lars to twenty dollars a year. It varies also ac- 
cording to the age and advancement of the pupil. 
The older he be, the more he has to pa)'. The 
larger sum I have named is paid to private tutors. 
A private tutor is also usually invited to take his 
abode in the house of the wealthy pupil ; and he is 
also permitted to admit a few outsiders. During 
festivals, and on great occasions, the teacher re- 
ceives presents of money, as well as of eatables, 
from his pupils. And always he is treated with 
great honor by all, and especially by the parents 
of the pupils. For the future career of their chil- 
dren may, in one sense, be said to be in his 
hands. 

One who teaches thirty or forty boys at an aver- 
age tuition fee of four dollars, is doing tolerably 
well in China ; for with the same amount he can 
buy five or six times as much of provisions or cloth- 
ing as can be bought in America. 

Schools usually open about three weeks after 
the New Year's Day, and continue till the middle 



SCHOOLS AND SCHOOL LIFE. 53 

of the twelfth month with but a few holidays 
sprinkled in. However, if the teacher be a can- 
didate for a literary degree, usually a vacation of 
about six weeks is enjoyed by the pupils in sum- 
mer. During the New Year festival, a month is 
given over to fun and relaxation. Unlike the boys 
and girls of America, Chinese pupils have no Sat- 
urdays as holidays, no Sundays as rest-days. School 
is in session daily from six to ten a. m., at which 
time all go home to breakfast. At eleven a. m., 
all assemble again. At one p. m. a recess of about 
an hour is granted to the pupils to get lunch. From 
two p. m. to four is held the afternoon session. 
This of course is only approximate, as no teacher 
is bound to a fixed regularity. He is at liberty to 
regulate his hours as he chooses. At four p. m. 
the school closes for the day. 

Schools are held either in a private house or in 
the hall of a temple. The ancestral temples which 
contain the tablets of deceased ancestors are usu- 
ally selected for schools, because they are of no 
other use and because they are more or less se- 
cluded, and are generally spacious. In a lar.ge 



54 WHEN I WAS A BOY IN CHINA. 

hall, open on one side towards a court, and having 
high ceilings supported by lofty pillars, besides 
the brick walls, you may see in the upper right- 
hand corner a square wooden table, behind which 
is the wooden chair; this is the throne of his 
majesty — the schoolmaster. On this table are 
placed the writing materials, consisting of brushes, 
India ink, and ink-wells made of slate. After 
pouring a little water in one of these wells, the cake 
of ink is rubbed in it until it reaches a certain 
thickness when the ink is ready to be used. The 
brushes are held as a painter's brushes are. 

In conspicuous view are the articles for inflict- 
ing punishment ; a wooden ruler to be applied to 
the head of the offender and sometimes to the 
hands, also a rattan stick for the body. Flogging 
with this stick is the heaviest punishment allowed ; 
fbr slight offences the ruler is used upon the palms, 
and for reciting poorly — upon the head. 

The room at large is occupied by the tables and 
stools of the pupils, chairs being reserved for supe- 
riors. The pupils sit either facing the teacher, or 
at right angles to him. Their tables are oblong in 



SCHOOLS AND SCHOOL LIFE. 55 

form and if much used will show the carving hab- 
its and talents of their occupants. The pupils are 
all of one sex usually, for girls seldom attend other 
schools than those kept in the family, and then 
only up to eleven or twelve years of age. They 
are taught the same lessons as their brothers. 

The boys range all the way from six or seven, 
up to sixteen or seventeen years of age, in an ordi- 
nary school ; for there is no such thing as organ- 
izing them into classes and divisions; each one 
is studying for himself. Still there are schools in 
which all the pupils are advanced ; and there are 
others which have none but beginners. But they 
are rare. 

I began to go to school at six. I studied first 
the three primers : the Trimetrical Classic, the Thou- 
sand-words Classic, and the Incentive to Study. They 
were in rhyme and metre, and you might think 
they were easy on that account. But no ! they 
were hard. There being no alphabet in the Chi- 
nese language, each word had to be learned by 
itself. At first all that was required of me was to 
learn the name of the character, and to recognize 



56 WHEN I WAS A BOY IN CHINA. 

it again. Writing was learned by copying from a 
form written by the teacher ; the form being laid 
under the thin paper on which the copying was to 
be done. The thing I had to do was to make all 
the strokes exactly as the teacher had made them. 
It is a very tedious operation. 

I finished the three primers in about a year, not 
knowing what I really was studying. The spoken 
language of China has outgrown the written ; that 
is, we no longer speak as we write. The difference 
is like that between the English of to-day and that 
of Chaucer's time. 

I then took up the Great Learning, written by a 
disciple of Confucius ; and then the Doctrine of the 
Mean, by the grandson of Confucius. These text- 
books are rather hard to understand sometimes, 
even in the hands of older folks ; for they are treat- 
ises on learning and philosophy. I then passed on 
to the Life and Sayings of Confucius, known as 
the Confucian Analects to the American scholars. 
These books were to be followed by the Life and 
Sayings of Mencius, and the Five Kings — five 
classics, consisting of books of history, divina- 



SCHOOLS AND SCHOOL LIFE. 57 

tion, universal etiquette, odes and the Spring and 
Autumn, " a brief and abstract chronicle of the 
times " by Confucius. 

I had to learn all my lessons by rote ; commit 
them to memory for recitation the day following. 
We read from the top right-hand corner down- 
wards, and then begin at the top with the next 
line, and so on. Moreover, we begin to read from 
what seems to you the end of the book. All study- 
ing must be done aloud. The louder you speak, 
or shriek, the more credit you get as a student. It 
is the only way by which Chinese teachers make 
sure that their pupils are not thinking of some- 
thing else, or are not playing under the desks. 

Now, let me take you into the school where I 
struggled with the Chinese written language for 
three years. Oh ! those hard characters which re- 
fused to yield their meaning to me. But I gradu- 
ally learned to make and to recognize their forms 
as well as their names. This school was in the ances- 
tral hall of my clan and was like the one I have 
described. There were about a dozen of us young- 
sters placed for the time being under the absolute 



58 WHEN I WAS A BOY IN CHINA. 

sway of an old gentleman of threescore-and-six. 
He had all the outward marks of a scholar ; and 
in addition, he was cross-eyed, which fact threw an 
element of uncertainty into our schemes of fun. 
For we used to like to " get ahead " of the old gen- 
tleman, and there were a few of us always ready 
for any lark. 

It is six o'clock a. m. All the boys are shout- 
ing at the top of their voices, at the fullest stretch 
of their lungs. Occasionally, one stops and talks 
to some one sitting near him. Two of the most 
careless ones are guessing pennies; and anon a 
dispute arises as to which of the two disputants 
writes a better hand. Here is one who thinks he 
knows his lesson and, having given his book to 
another, repeats it for a trial. All at once the talk- 
ing, the playing, the shouting ceases. A bent form 
slowly comes up through the open court. The 
pupils rise to their feet. A simultaneous saluta- 
tion issues from a dozen pairs of lips. All cry 
out, " Lao Se " (venerable teacher) ! As he sits 
down, all follow his example. There is no roll- 
call. Then one takes his book up to the teacher's 



SCHOOLS AND SCHOOL LIFE. 59 

desk, turns his back to him and recites. But see, 
he soon hesitates ; the teacher prompts him, with 
which he goes on smoothly to the last and returns 
to his seat with a look of satisfaction. A second 
one goes up, but poor fellow ! he forgets three 
times ; the teacher is out of patience with the third 
stumble, and down comes the ruler, whack ! whack ! 
upon the head. With one hand feeling the aching 
spot and the other carrying back his book, the dis- 
comfited youngster returns to his desk to re-con 
his lesson. 

This continues until all have recited. As each 
one gets back to his seat, he takes his writing les- 
son. He must hold his brush in a certain position, 
vertically, and the tighter he holds it the more 
strength will appear in his handwriting. The 
schoolmaster makes a tour of inspection and sees 
that each writes correctly ; writing is as great an 
art in China as painting and drawing are in other 
countries and good specimens of fine writing are 
valued as good paintings are here. 

After the writing lesson it is time to dismiss 
school for breakfast. On re-assembling, the les- 



60 WHEN I WAS A BOY IN CHINA. 

son for the next day is explained to each one sep- 
arately. The teacher reads it over, and the pupil 
repeats it after him several times until he gets the 
majority of the words learned. He then returns 
to his desk and shouts anew to get the lesson 
fixed in his memory. The more advanced scholars 
are then favored with the expounding of Con- 
fucius's Analects, or some literary essay. After the 
teacher concludes, each is given a passage of the 
text to explain. In this way, the meaning of words 
and sentences is learned, and made familiar. The 
afternoon session is passed by the older pupils in 
writing compositions in prose or in verse, and by 
the younger in learning the next day's task. 

This is the regular routine, the order of exer- 
cises in Chinese schools. 

Grammar, as a science, is not taught, nor are the 
mathematics. Language and literature occupy the 
child's attention, as I have shown, for the first five 
or six years; afterwards essay-writing and poetry 
are added. For excellence in these two branches, 
public prizes are awarded by the resident Literary 
Sub-Chancellor. But public exhibitions and dec- 



SCHOOLS AND SCHOOL LIFE. 6 1 

lamations are unknown, though Chinese fathers 
sometimes visit the schools. The relations of the 
sexes are such that a Chinese mother never has the 
presumption to appear at the door of a schoolroom 
in order to acquaint herself with the progress of her 
child's education. 

Parents furnish the text-books as a rule. They 
are bound into volume, and printed usually with 
immovable type. 

The pupils usually behave well. If not, the rattan 
stick comes promptly into use. Chinese teachers 
have a peculiar method of meting out punishment. 
I remember an episode in my school-life which 
illustrates this. One afternoon, when the old 
schoolmaster happened to be away longer than his 
wont after the noon recess, some of the boys began 
to " cut up." The fun reached its height in the ex- 
ploding of some fire-crackers. As they went off, 
making the hall ring with the noise, the teacher 
came in, indignant, you may be sure. His defect- 
ive eyes darted about and dived around to fix upon 
the culprit, but as he didn't happen to be in the 
line of their vision, the guilty boy stole back to his 



62 WHEN I WAS A BOY IN CHINA. 

seat undetected. The old gentleman then seized 
the rattan and in a loud tone demanded who it 
was that had let off the crackers. And when no- 
body answered, what do you suppose he did ? He 
flogged the whole crowd of us, saying that he was 
sure to get hold of the right one and that the rest 
deserved a whipping for not making the real of- 
fender known. Truly, the paths of Chinese learn- 
ing in my day were beset with thorns and briers ! 



CHAPTER VII. 



RELIGIONS. 



IN talking about religion in China, I need hardly 
remind you that Christianity is of recent intro- 
duction and that many things belonging to it, such 
as the Sabbath, churches, ministers, regular meet- 
ings for worship, are unknown to the great mass of 
the people. The Chinese do not divide the year 
into weeks, nor do they have Christmas or Easter. 
In the place of those Christian days they observe 
other festivals. 

We have three systems of religion : Confucian- 
ism, Taoism, and Buddhism. 

Confucianism, the religion taught by Confucius, a 
great philosopher who lived about five hundred 
years before the birth of Christ — is the religion of 
the Emperor, of the large body of officials, and of the 
educated classes generally. This system is mainly 
63 



64 WHEN I WAS A BOY IN CHINA. 

moral and practical, in opposition to the spiritual 
and the speculative. It teaches mankind to per- 
form certain duties; for instance, to honor and 
serve one's parents, to be obedient and deferential 
towards one's elders, to be loyal to one's lawful 
sovereign and to live harmoniously with one's wife. 
These precepts are expanded and extended so 
that they are adapted to all the requirements of 
modern society. Confucius never taught the ex- 
istence of God, for he felt that he did not know 
anything about Him ; nor did he advance any the- 
ories concerning heaven and hell. He simply 
taught men to love goodness for its own sake. But 
this lofty philosophy, however it might have suited 
the character of the philosopher and his personal 
disciples, never was popular in the sense that peo- 
ple generally accepted it and practised it. Still 
• the Chinese have a real reverence for Confucius and 
his precepts, and, excepting the few who are pro- 
fessed Buddhists and Taoists, will call themselves 
Confucianists, although they may not understand 
all that this master taught, and in spite of the fact 
that they worship gods of the other systems of 



RELIGIONS. 65 

religion. The gods of the Confucianists, pure and 
simple, are heaven and earth, the spirits of the 
winds and of the five great mountains, the house- 
hold gods (answering to the Penates of the Rom- 
ans) and one's ancestors. 

Taoism was formerly a pure system of philoso- 
phy, but it by degrees sadly degenerated into a 
sect which borrowed its doctrines from Buddhism 
and Confucianism and has had engrafted upon it 
from time to time innumerable superstitions. The 
priests of this sect are men whose business is to 
impose on the people, and who make a living out 
of their superstitious fears. Thus, if a person falls 
sick, or is supposed to be possessed by an evil 
spirit, a Taoist priest is summoned to intercede 
for him and to offer up vows for his recovery. So 
also when a person dies, one of them rings a bell 
in front of the corpse, and, by mumbling a lot of 
gibberish, pretends to open the gate of the lower 
world for the departed soul to enter. A piece of 
silver is previously put in the mouth of the dead 
person to pay toll with. Almost everything imag- 
inable is worshiped by the Taoists and those who 



66 WHEN I WAS A BOY IN CHINA. 

believe in the efficacy of their intercessions. Every- 
thing has a spirit or spiritual counterpart in the 
next world ; and this spirit, according as it is pro- 
pitiated by offerings, or offended by lack thereof 
will work good or evil to the man. There are the 
gods of war, literature, wealth, and medicine ; and 
there are the goddesses of married women and of 
seamen. These are a few of the nobler specimens 
of the idols which are worshiped. The fertile imag- 
ination of the Chinese fills every lake and river 
with spirits, every street and house with ghosts, 
and every wood and mountain with deities. They 
believe the next world to be a shadow of this; 
that the dead have everything in the world below 
which they had on earth — only these premises 
exist as shadows instead of substance. 

Buddhism entered China about the time of 
' Christ. One of the Emperors of the Han dynasty, 
having heard of the rise of a great sage in the 
West, sent an embassy to see him and to bring 
back his teachings. Doubtless the reputation of 
the marvelous Nazarene had been spread in the 
northern part of China by European and Arabian 



RELIGIONS. 67 

traders and had reached the ears of the Chinese 
monarch. The embassy sat out on their long, 
tedious and perilous journey. But while passing 
near India, they heard of Buddha and his sublime 
teachings. They supposed him to be the sage 
they were seeking, and they turned aside into 
India. Buddha had by that time been absorbed 
in Nirvana — he was dead ; and the embassadors 
contented themselves with carrying back his books 
to China. Under the lead of the emperor, Bud- 
dhism was accorded a cordial reception in the em- 
pire. But modern Buddhism is not what Buddha 
intended it to be. For instance, idolatry which he 
never taught, is practised. 

Buddhist priests and nuns live apart from other 
people in monasteries and nunneries. They wear 
a different costume, and have their heads entirely 
shaven. They live on a vegetable diet, and ob- 
tain their food by their chants, by singing masses 
and often by begging. People believe that wealth, 
happiness and longevity can be procured through 
them, and so, according to their means, they offer 
these priests and nuns money with which to buy 



68 WHEN I WAS A BOY IN CHINA. 

incense for Buddha and oil to burn in his lamps, 
also that a number of prayers shall be offered 
up in their behalf. Accordingly these priests and 
nuns are enabled to live a life of sloth. Some- 
times, however, as if to break the monotony of 
their existence, they commit crimes which expose 
them to the vengeance of outraged law. The 
Buddhist monasteries and nunneries were form- 
erly houses of refuge for a certain class of crim- 
inals. Those who went there and became pro- 
fessed Buddhists were exempt from punishment. 

The educated classes despise both Taoists and 
Buddhists. Nevertheless in sickness, or in death, 
they patronize them. This shows that our reli- 
gious instinct is so strong that a man will worship 
anything rather than nothing. 

As I said, there is nothing in Chinese religions 
corresponding to the Christian Sabbath. In none 
of our festivals, holidays or anniversary celebra- 
tions, does the idea of rest enter. Instead of 
churches, we have temples which embody the 
highest architectural skill of the Chinese. They 
are built of brick, one story in height, oftentimes* 



RELIGIONS. 69 

very spacious, comprising a series of buildings with 
alternate courts, and flanked by others designed 
as living-rooms, for the priests or nuns. The pre- 
siding idol is enshrined in the innermost hall, and 
dressed in real clothes fashioned in accordance 
with its character. There are usually placed in 
every temple a large number of idols inferior in 
power to the chief idol. Before the chief idol is 
burnt incense-sticks and candles and costly sandal- 
wood. Food is offered on stated days, as well as 
on ordinary days ; the worshipers believe that the 
essence of the food is eaten by the spirit of the 
god and that the substance remains for their own 
enjoyment. From the fact that the devotees them- 
selves eat the food offered to the idol, people rec- 
oncile economy with profuse expenditure, by pre- 
tending to be religious with the view to gratifying 
their own appetites. Idolatry in China is not 
founded on the belief that wood and stones and 
other inanimate objects are in themselves worthy 
of worship ; but on account of the spirits which 
reside or take up their abode therein. 

Thus the idolatry of the Chinese is superior to the 



70 WHEN I WAS A BOY IN CHINA. 

brutal worship of India, and to the brutish worship 
of the Egyptians. But still it exerts a baneful in- 
fluence on the minds and hearts of its subjects. 

In considering all systems of idolatry and super- 
stition, one significant fact stands prominent, the 
utter neglect of religious training of the young. China's 
three great religions have nothing answering to 
the Christian Sunday school. Of course, boys and 
girls pick up some religious ideas in their inter- 
course with those about them. But nobody ever 
deliberately sits down to tell them of this god and 
that god, their origin, character and power. Only 
incidentally is such knowledge conveyed. There 
are many religious books ; but from the difficulty 
of learning to read, they are necessarily sealed to 
the young mind. If the young are told to worship 
this idol and that idol, they never understand why 
and wherefore they should do this. In time they 
comprehend that they do it to obtain favor and to 
gain merit. 

I well remember the first time I was led to a 
temple and there told to bend my knees to the idol 
decked out in a gorgeous robe, its face blackened 



RELIGIONS. 71 

by the smoke from the incense. On either side of 
the room stood four huge idols, with stern and for- 
bidding faces. One of them was especially fright- 
ful. It was the God of Thunder represented by 
an image having the body of a man and the head 
of a highly caricatured rooster. This idol had a 
hammer in one hand and a large nail in the other, 
with which he is supposed to strike wicked persons. 
This god made such an impression on me that I 
had a horrible dream about it that very night. I 
saw him clad in fierceness ; he moved his hands 
threateningly. Almost choked with fright though 
I was, I managed to cry out and that awoke me. 

On account of the conservative spirit of the 
Chinese, their traditions, the pure morals which 
Confucius taught, the peculiar school system, and 
the prejudices which they justly entertain against 
foreigners, the work of missionaries must progress 
slowly. Something has been done during the last 
fifty years. The land has been surveyed and its 
needs and capabilities made known. 



CHAPTER VIII. 



CHINESE HOLIDAYS. 



IT would be a matter of many chapters were I to 
describe all the holidays which we have in 
China. The bare enumeration of them would be 
as difficult as tedious. In point of fact we have 
almost as many holidays and festivals as there are 
days in the year. Each prominent idol has a birth- 
day, also an anniversary of his death, both of which 
are celebrated. There are some — the Goddess of 
Mercy, for instance — who have half a dozen days 
sacred to them. There are a number of deities, 
great persons deified, that are common to the 
nation; while each city, town and hamlet, has 
numerous local deities who are its special protect- 
ors. 

Extremely lucky it is for the aforesaid idols that 

their devotees are naturally fond of shows, pag- 
72 



CHINESE HOLIDAYS. 73 

eantry and display ; otherwise, idolatry would have 
little to attract the multitude. As it is, millions of 
dollars are spent in these celebrations every year. 
At the dedication of a temple in Canton, two years 
ago, thirty thousand dollars were spent. As I was 
present at this really great exhibition, I can give 
you an idea of it. For a long time a committee of 
citizens had been collecting subscriptions from 
dwellers far and near ; and weeks before the com- 
pletion of the temple, a large pavilion was reared, 
the material of which was mainly bamboo in the 
form of poles, mattings and slips. Marvelous archi- 
tectural results are attained by combining a few 
wooden pillars with the bamboo in various forms, 
and soon a light and airy structure looms up in the 
sky, which can be seen from a great distance. 
This pavilion is directly in front of the temple, 
while smaller ones are built in vacant lots near by, 
all connected with the main building by awnings 
pitched over the streets. There is a high tower in 
the middle of the great pavilion, on the ceiling of 
which curls a dragon of many colors, gleaming with 
innumerable spangles, through whose mouth a rope 



74 WHEN I WAS A BOY IN CHINA. 

is dropped on which is suspended an immense 
chandelier. The latter is finely carved so far as the 
body, which is of wood, is concerned, and for bril- 
liancy of coloring has no rival in China. It is 
octagonal and each side throws out four branches, 
which uphold kerosene lamps. The centres of each 
side are cut out, and glass inserted, behind which 
automatic figures are made to move by clockwork. 
The finest effects of this chandelier are of course 
obtained when the lamps are lighted. Suspended 
from the roof in other parts are other chandeliers, 
less elaborate and smaller perhaps, but not less 
artistic and beautiful. Forests of pendants are 
attached to them, so that on all sides the light is 
reflected. Then, in the intervals between the chan- 
deliers, hang oblong cases, all decorated with silks 
and satins, and finely carved, containing dolls, 
about two feet high, elegantly dressed in character, 
and grouped to represent historical scenes. These 
figures have machinery placed beneath them to 
make them shake their heads, or lift their hands, 
or sway their bodies, just as the role of each 
requires. There are also smaller cases in which 



CHINESE HOLIDAYS. 75 

are arranged tableaux from romance of which the 
Chinese are very fond. Sometimes, a domic tableau 
is given; for instance, in one case are shown a 
number of blind men fighting with bamboo sticks 
on the street, and as the blows are dealt blindly 
and in all directions (by means of the machinery), 
the crowd of spectators never fail to laugh. 

Flowers of all the varieties which grow in the 
" Flowery Kingdom " form an important and pleas- 
ing feature of the entertainment. They are made 
into shapes of men or birds, and their delicious 
odors pervade the whole place. The walls of the 
different pavilions are gayly painted. On them 
pictures in water-colors are hung, as well as scrolls 
bearing the writings of celebrated men. Under 
these are placed, in rows, fine flower pots crowned 
with the choicest flowers of the season. Dwarfed 
trees too are placed beside them. 

There are platforms in every good-sized pavilion 
where the musicians sit and discourse music for 
the pleasure of a most attentive audience. There 
are drums, kettledrums, immense cymbals, gongs, 
cornets, flutes, castanets, two-stringed fiddles and 



76 WHEN I WAS A BOY IN CHINA. 

I don't know what else besides, and when they 
are sounded together the effect is overwhelming on 
ears unaccustomed to such strange symphonies. 
The flutist first blows his flute, then the cornetist 
joins with his toot, and then the kettledrum man 
strikes up, which is a signal for the cymbals to 
clash and the gong to raise its hoarse cry, while the 
shrill fiddles may be distinguished in the din like 
the witches' voices above the storm in Macbeth. 

Worse still follows, when the musicians turn from 
instrumental to vocal music, and one of them gives 
you a solo with that falsetto-pitch which is meant 
to imitate a female voice. 

While the crowd of people are enjoying the differ- 
ent sights and sounds in the pavilions, inside the 
temple various ceremonies are going on. The 
temple itself, entirely new, is finely decorated with 
both permanent and temporary ornamentations. 
Among the first are frescos and wood-carvings and 
figures in bas-relief; among the second, banners, 
flower-baskets and pictures. Buddhist priests are 
praying to Buddha in the central hall, while in the 
back hall, where the shrine of the chief deity is 



CHINESE HOLIDAYS. 77 

situated, flocks of worshipers flit to and fro mak- 
ing offerings of food, lighting candles, and burning 
incense. There is no scene in China more ani- 
mated. Everybody who has any religion in him 
comes to worship and to ask some favor of the god, 
and each person leaves more or less money with 
the keepers of the temple. In my native city festi- 
vals similar to this occur two or three times in the 
week in different parts of the town. Of course the 
schools are kept open on such festal days, other- 
wise little study could be accomplished. School- 
boys go to the shows in the evening and girls too. 
sometimes, go by themselves to enjoy the sights 

But there are holidays which may be called 
national, since they are observed all over the 
country. 

First and most important are the New Year holi- 
days, which are celebrated with as much e'clat as 
unceasing firing of pyrotechnics, calls of ceremony 
and universal good-will and joy will contribute. 
Debts are paid up at the end of the year, and for 
the first week or two little or no business is trans- 
acted. Every one gives himself up to jollity. Chil- 



78 WHEN I WAS A BOY IN CHINA. 

dren, on such days, are surfeited with sweetmeats, 
and holes are made in their holiday clothes by burn- 
ing fire-crackers. Largesses are bestowed upon 
both children and servants, while beggars are also 
remembered, so that this season is really the most 
joyous of the year — the time when charity is most 
charitable and benevolence assumes a more benevo- 
lent aspect. 

Next, in order of time, comes the Feast of Lan- 
terns. The main feature of this fete, as the name 
implies, is a procession with lanterns of all shapes 
and kinds. Soon after nightfall, men and boys get 
in line, each carrying upon a bamboo pole a great 
paper bird, or quadruped, or fish, inside of which 
candles are lit. Very fantastic shapes sometimes 
are seen, and mythological books are ransacked to 
procure strange creatures. 

Imagine three or four hundred of these lanterns 
passing before you, all brilliant with rich colors. 
Sandal-wood is burnt in censers carried in small 
movable pavilions, while bands of music mingle 
their racket with the applause of the spectators 
and the jokes of the men in the procession. 



CHINESE HOLIDAYS. 70 

Last of all an immense and terrible dragon 
about forty feet in length is borne along supported 
on bamboo poles by a dozen or twenty men. 

There is another procession similar to this in the 
fourth month, only it takes place in the daytime 
instead of at night, and the large number and 
variety of lanterns are wanting. 

In the fifth month are held the dragon-boat 
races. These boats are narrow and long, capable 
of holding about one hundred men sitting one 
behind the other. Each one carries a paddle, and 
the boat is so made that it can go just as well back- 
wards as forwards. The direction devolves upon the 
men in the ends of the boat. In the centre the idol 
from whose ward or district the boat hails, sits 
enthroned with an immense umbrella of red silk to 
keep the sun from tanning his complexion. A 
band of music accompanies each boat. By its 
warlike clangor it encourages the racers, while its 
drum beats the time for the stroke. Banners are 
given after the race, as spoils of victory, to be 
placed in the temple of the patron deity. The 
scene on the rivers on such an occasion is very 



80 WHEN I WAS A BOY IN CHINA. 

animated and the cheers of the spectators from the 
different districts attest their interest. 

In the eighth month comes the Festival of the 
Moon, answering to the Harvest Festival in West- 
ern countries. What are called "moon-cakes " are 
sold at this season. If the year has been product- 
ive there will be a great deal of rejoicing. Pres- 
ents are interchanged at this time as also at other 
festival seasons. As the moon becomes gradually 
full there appears in it to the Chinese eye a man 
who is climbing a tree. The full moon is greeted 
with much ceremony, and the night on which the 
luminary appears its brightest is passed in feast- 
ing and rejoicing. 



CHAPTER IX. 

STORIES AND STORY-TELLERS. 

THE Chinese are passionately fond of stories 
and story-telling. On the public streets 
and squares, professional story-tellers congregate 
from noon to midnight, going over the achieve- 
ments of a hero or portraying the despair of a lover. 
They recite with a dramatic power not to be ex- 
pected from their sluggish movements and stolid 
countenances. 

All classes indulge in this favorite pastime. The 
dignified scholar relishes a good story as much as 
a child in the lap a fairy tale. Story-books in the 
language can be counted by the tens of thousands. 
The subjects are historical or romantic; of war, 
of love, of magic and enchantment. Some of the 
legends are really beautiful and are as interesting 

as a good English novel. There is one book which 
Si 



8a WHEN I WAS A BOY IN CHINA. 

is the unfailing delight of all classes ; I mean the 
History of the Three Kingdoms. It is an historical 
novel in twenty volumes, illustrated with wood-cuts. 
For arrangement of details, delineation of charac- 
ter and elegance of diction, I have found few books 
in English its equal. It is, in one sense, an epic 
in prose. When a boy, I used to enjoy hearing 
passages of it read or explained. 

Books of ballads are to be found in every house- 
hold. Our ladies take great delight in learning to 
sing them to their own music, music which is not 
printed in the books, but suggests itself as they 
recite or sing. Ballad singers are found on all the 
public squares where they earn their living by 
passing around the basket at each crisis of the 
story. The spectators are eager to hear the rest, 
of course, and so will be more easily induced to pay. 

There are no story-books which children can 
read and enjoy, since it takes them so long to 
learn the characters. But picture books are some- 
times given to children. Still they are not made 
specially for them as they are in this country ; and 
colored pictures are too costly to be put into chil- 



STORIES AND STORY-TELLERS. 83 

dren's hands because they must be drawn by hand, 
painted by artists. So Chinese boys and girls 
lack those facilities for enjoyment in picture-books 
which American and English children have in so 
great abundance. 

To give an idea of the stories which are most 
eagerly listened to, let me tell you one myself 
which may be taken as a fair sample of the shorter 
ones. It has the advantage of being true and 
every whit reliable. For want of a more appropri- 
ate title I will call it : 

SOLD. 

My fellow-townsman Chang was a scholar, who, 
having obtained his M. A. degree, took up the pro- 
fession of law, for his success in which he was dis- 
liked by his neighbors in Fragrant Hills. The time 
came when it behooved him to go to Pekin for the 
purpose of passing examination for the doctor's 
degree. Accordingly, with three hundred dollars 
in his three trunks, many books and " skinning 
papers," he went to Canton to obtain documents 
of identification. Pending the issue of these, he 



$4 WHEN I WAS A BOY IN CHINA. 

stopped at an inn, resolved to set out to Pekin 
by steamer as soon as possible. In the next 
room, separated from his simply by a wooden 
partition, lodged two gentlemen, who, by their 
Northern dialect, declared themselves strangers, 
and who appeared to be on the same errand as 
himself. He overheard them more than once 
quarrelling about a rich widow who had ended the 
prescribed twenty-seven months of mourning and 
was taking active measures to change her lonely 
condition. Filled with curiosity, Mr. Chang panted 
to know more ; so dropping into their room one 
day, after duly introducing himself, he said, " For 
days I have heard you disputing over a marriage 
affair. Pray, will you enlighten my understanding 
by telling me the interesting facts in the case ?" 

" With pleasure, sir," answered the elder of the 
two ; "you see there lives near here a pretty widow 
whose husband, a trader from Kiang-si, had the 
bad taste to leave her an immense fortune at his 
death. Now, as she has no children, she is anx- 
ious to marry again. But she will marry none ex- 
cept a scholar of distinguished merit, a man of fine 



STORIES AND STORY-TELLERS. 85 

character and suitable age, money being evidently 
no object to her. When we learned that, we both 
wanted to offer ourselves and that explains why we 
have disturbed your serenity in such an unseemly 
manner. But yesterday we heard from a go-be- 
tween that she had set her heart on marrying a 
native of this province. So we are out of the 
race." 

" Such a man," said Chang, " is not hard to find. 
I know one now, not a li from here, who can fulfil 
these conditions. Do you think there is any chance 
for a worthless person like me ? " 

"You do yourself injustice," said the younger 
man. " I am sure she ought to feel honored by an 
alliance with a scholar of your blooming talent. 
If you wish to try your luck, I can tell you where 
the go-between lives. Will you have the goodness 
to precede us ? " 

Arrived at the entrance of a cottage, the two 
took their leave. Mr. Chang knocked at the door. 
It was opened by the matchmaker herself. She 
was a woman of the poorer class, dressed in home- 
spun linen, having feet that had evidently borne 



86 WHEN I WAS A BOY IN CHINA. 

the tortures of binding in vain, for they were still 
as large as Nature could have made them. 

Mr. Chang stated the purpose of his visit ; upon 
which the woman confirmed what he had heard, 
moreover, adding that the lady was fastidious and 
would want to see him before consenting to marry 
him. Chang said he was glad of an interview. 
He agreed to reward the matchmaker richly in 
case of success. After appointing the next morn- 
ing for the ordeal, he wended his way back to the 
inn, feeling decidedly elated with his diplomacy. 

The next morning saw him dressed in his best 
silk gown and adorned with a beard trimmed for 
the occasion. The wily matchmaker was waiting 
for him, and soon started with him on their errand. 
A little after, they paused at the door of an ele- 
gant mansion, which by its size and decorations, 
gave evidence of the wealth and rank of its occu- 
pants. 

A servant ushered them into the reception-room 
and went in to announce their arrival. While 
waiting, Chang feasted his legal eyes on beautiful 
pictures, mahogany furniture and costly curios, 



STORIES AND STORY-TELLERS. 87 

while his ears were charmed with the musical 
" clink, clink, clink," of the silver dollars which 
were being weighed in the next room. Servants 
flitted to and fro, carrying receipts or bags of 
money. Our lawyer's heart ordinarily would have 
softened at the sight of money, but on this occa- 
sion it fairly melted. His love for the pretty 
widow increased in warmth with every bag of 
money added to the pile. 

In the midst of his enchanting reverie, the lady 
entered supported by two servants. He was more 
than surprised by her appearance. Her face was 
full and round and she had the daintiest little 
feet you ever saw. He had been led to expect 
good looks, but not beauty like this. Meeting 
his eye bent on her in admiration, she looked down 
in modesty, and, having presented him a cup of tea, 
she withdrew, not having uttered a word, according 
to etiquette. 

The go-between followed her and after a little 
while, which seemed a cycle to the expectant lover, 
she reappeared, beaming with smiles, announcing 
their success. In a word, the lady was so pleased 



88 WHEN I WAS A BOY IN CHINA. 

with Chang's appearance that she had decided to 
accept him. She begged him to move into her 
house that he might superintend the preparations 
for the wedding. 

He readily assented ; then hurried back to the ho- 
tel with a heart full of love for the beautiful widow 
and benevolent intent towards her silver dollars. 
To say that he trod on air is to speak within 
bounds. His soul was electrified with joy. 

The hotel bill paid, his effects were carried " to 
his house." An elegant room was given him for 
his temporary occupancy. A delicate lunch of 
sweetmeats and pastry was served, after which the 
lady sent word to ask if he would condescend to buy 
a fan for her. It was only to be had in one place. 

" Certainly," said Chang, and set out in search 
of the store. But it was a search for the " blessed 
isles." After beating around the dense city for 
some hours, he returned hungry and crestfallen. 

But greater disasters awaited him. He found to 
his dismay the door of the house locked from the 
outside. " What does it mean ? " he muttered. He 
knocked, pushed, kicked; but in vain. All was 



STORIES AND STORY-TELLERS. 89 

still within. Now thoroughly frightened, he inquired 
at a store opposite. "Why, sir, this house was 
rented together, with its furniture, by a family 
named Low. They moved off this afternoon. 
Nothing bad has happened, I hope ? " 

" No ! no ! " said Chang, his head all in a whirl, 
and staggered out. That night he spent at the old 
inn minus three trunks, three hundred dollars, 
many books and " skinning papers." 

The next morning he found the two strangers. 
On seeing them, the potential energy of his pent-up 
rage became kinetic. He could have kicked the 
two M. A.'s ten feet with an initial velocity of one 
hundred and fifty pounds per second, but he did 
not, for he was a lawyer. So he gave vent to 
abusive epithets and terrific denunciation. They 
declared their innocence and advised him to open 
the flood-gates of his wrath upon the go-between. 

Chang saw that he was only wasting words on 
them, so he went off to seek that worthy person, 
having no idea of finding her at home. But she 
was, much to his surprise, and coolly inquired how 
he liked his new home. " New home ! You wretch ! 



90 WHEN I WAS A BOY IN CHINA. 

A fine match you have made for me ! I will have 
you arrested. I will have you punished for con- 
spiracy." 

She asserted her innocence. Indeed " she hoped 
to be thunder-struck if she had done wrong in pro- 
curing for him a pretty wife and a big fortune." 

Words ran high ; neighbors rushed in, to whom 
both the belligerents appealed. Chang then began 
a recital of his wrong. He was interrupted by the 
matchmaker. " Oh, is that all ! " said she, " why, 
now I remember what Lady Low said the other 
day — that herfather was sick and she was liable to 
be summoned to his bedside at any time. If you 
wish it I'll take you to your father-in-law's ; but I 
must have ten dollars for my trouble. As soon as 
you see her, you are to give me the money, do you 
gromise ?" Chang groaned assent, seeing no better 
mode of procedure. 

She led him into the audience hall of a large 
house and pointed to an elegantly attired lady in the 
women's apartments. " There she is ! See her ? " 

Sure enough, it was the modest Lady Low. 
Chang handed the matchmaker the money, with 



STORIES AND STORY-TELLERS. 9 1 

which she walked off. He hesitated what to do 
next. There was no servant near to whom he 
could speak. Just then the lady caught sight of 
him and smiled. Oh that smile ! It was worthy 
of the Sirens. Just as he raised his hand to 
beckon to her, an old gentleman came out of an 
adjoining room. " What is this ? " he cried. " Are 
you addressing my wife ? Help ! thieves ! robbers ! 
murder ! " 

Out rushed a troop of servants. Now fly ! 
Chang, fly for your life ! Yes, he flew, nor paused 
till he got to the inn where he learned that his 
neighbors had set sail. He also found the cunning 
matchmaker absent. Now realizing how com- 
pletely he was sold, and that the offenders could 
not be punished, while he himself was liable to be 
arrested for trespassing in a man's house and at- 
tempting to destroy his domestic happiness, he 
sailed for Fragrant Hills in a state of mind far 
from tranquil. 

The story got abroad and the whole town grinned 
from ear to ear, while even his own friends enjoyed 
his discomfiture. 



CHAPTER X. 

HOW I WENT TO SHANGHAI. 

ABOUT forty years ago, there came to this 
country under the auspices of the Rev. Dr. 
Brown, an American missionary in China, a Chi- 
nese youth — who was destined to exert a potent 
influence on the future of the Chinese Empire. 
Many have heard of him or read about him ; his 
name is Yung Wing. Inspired by a lofty ambi- 
tion, he worked his way through preparatory school 
and college, graduating from Yale in 1854 with 
high honors. 

He went back to China soon after his gradua- 
tion and engaged in business at Shanghai. But 
business with the incidental pleasure of money- 
making, did not entirely absorb his attention. 
China was at that time having troublesome diplo- 
matic negotiations with foreign powers, and was 
92 



HOW I WENT TO SHANGHAI. 93 

being taken advantage of right and left for want of 
men in office who understood the customs, the 
laws and the civilization of Western countries. 

Dr. Wing, indignant at the wrongs which China 
had suffered and was suffering at the hands of so- 
called " Christian " and " enlightened " nations, 
sought for a remedy, and conceived the brilliant 
project of educating a number of Chinese boys in 
America for future service at the government ex- 
pense. 

He made his plan known to prominent Chinese 
officials. At first he met with no sympathy, no 
encouragement. Still, he persevered; and after 
twelve years of patient waiting and active labor, 
he succeeded in convincing two of the most pow- 
erful ministers at the court of Pekin of the feasi- 
bility of his scheme. In consequence, an edict was 
issued by the emperor to enforce its execution. 

A school was established at Shanghai to receive 
candidates, and announcement made that the gov- 
ernment had appropriated a large sum of money 
to educate one hundred and twenty boys in America, 
who were to be sent in four detachments, in four 



94 WHEN I WAS A BOY IN CHINA. 

successive years, beginning with 1872 ; and that a 
candidate, on his election after a term of probation 
at the school, should have the cadet's button and 
rank conferred on him ; and that after fifteen years 
of residence in America, during which period the 
government promised to defray all expenses and 
exercise parental care over the youths, they were 
to return for entrance into its service. 

Such an offer was un-heard-of. People doubt- 
less were dazzled by its splendor, as many as came 
in view of it. But as no newspapers existed there, 
excepting at Pekin and some of the treaty ports, 
the news did not spread far. Only faint and vague 
rumors reached the inland towns. Hence, com- 
paratively few candidates presented themselves 
and these hailed, for the most part, from the mari- 
time provinces. In fact, parents were not over- 
eager to send their sons away so far, for so long a 
time, and to a land unknown to them, the inhabi- 
tants of which they heard and believed were bar- 
barians. 

A cousin of mine, however, who was in business 
then at Shanghai, thought differently ; and was 



HOW I WENT TO SHANGHAI. 95 

not deterred by any such considerations. He 
came home with glowing accounts of the new 
movement; and so painted the golden prospects 
of the successful candidate that he persuaded my 
mother to let me go. I was then twelve years old ; 
my father had died three years before and my 
mother had assumed the sole charge of her three 
sons. But she was not going to force me to go, 
whether willing or unwilling ; and so left the mat- 
ter to me to decide. 

I was more or less adventurous in disposition. 
A chance to see the world was just what I wanted. 
I said yes without hesitation. My mother, if she 
had any misgivings, wisely kept them to herself ; 
and, like a brave woman who has resolved to deny 
herself for the good of her child, she set to work 
to prepare me for the journey to Shanghai. 

For a whole month, I reveled at the sight of new 
clothes that were made for me. Friends and rel- 
atives made presents of food for the voyage, sweet- 
meats predominating. At last, after bidding fare- 
well to all my uncles, aunts and cousins, with others 
of my kith and kin, I paid my last respects to my 



96 WHEN I WAS A BOY IN CHINA. 

mother in the conventional way. I did not em- 
brace her and kiss her. O no ! that would have 
been un-Chinese and undignified. What I actually 
did was to bow my head four times to the ground 
upon my knees. She tried to appear cheerful, but 
I could see that her eyes were moistened with 
tears. I did not think much of it then, but I re- 
membered it in after-time. Ah ! a mother's love 
is strong wherever it is found. She gave me some 
pocket-money and bade me be a good boy and 
write often. 

With those words ringing in my ears and the 
memory of that sad face fresh in my mind, I walked 
briskly by the side of my cousin down to the wharf 
at which the junk was moored, which vessel, of a 
style well-known by picture to American boys and 
girls, was to carry us to Hongkong, whence we ex- 
pected to take steamer for Shanghai. We sailed 
down the narrow river with a stiff breeze in our 
favor, after offerings had been made to the river- 
god, and the gong had announced to the world 
that " we were off." 

The river was so serpentine with its numerous 



HOW I •WENT TO SHANGHAI. 97 

bends that the men often had to take a run on the 
banks to pull the boat along. The sun was just 
tinging the western cloud-castles with crimson 
and gold and as we went further and further from 
the town a panorama of great beauty passed before 
our eyes. Mountains and stream, and fields wavy 
with golden grain, and towering pagodas, all 
gemmed by the setting sun, composed this kalei- 
doscopic scene. But I had no heart to enjoy it. I 
was homesick for the first time in my life. A 
sense of solitude, of desolation — a feeling of loss 
possessed me — and I retired into the small cabin 
to weep unseen. Before long, a tossing of the boat 
announced the awful presence of the sea, and soon 
after I realized what seasickness meant. 

We arrived at Hongkong the next morning. It 
was a wonderful place to me. I never wearied 
with gazing at the vessels, which were of all sorts 
and all nationalities. The foreigners too were 
strange sights. How I stared at them and won- 
dered how they could move with their "strait- 
jackets and tight pantaloons ! " 

I had an adventure which I can never forget. 



98 WHEN I WAS A BOY IN CHINA. 

My cousin left me behind with friends while he 
went to the theatre. I inwardly rebelled at this 
treatment, and, against the advice of the people 
at the store where we stayed, set out in that strange 
place to find the theatre, taking the money which 
my mother had given me to buy a ticket. I walked 
quite a distance, stopping frequently to gaze at 
the show windows and at the foreigners, till I came 
upon one at last. Although I had seen theatrical 
performances before, I had never been in a per- 
manent theatre, so I was determined to enjoy my 
new experience. But alas ! no enjoyment came to 
me. I felt uneasy the whole time and looked all 
over the auditory to see if my cousin was there. 
But he was nowhere to be seen. Scared and trem- 
bling for the consequences, I left the building before 
the grand climax when one hero was to distinguish 
himself by killing another and went my way back 
to the store. My cousin returned before long and, 
being informed of my escapade gave me a sound 
whipping. In two days we went on board a steamer 
and arrived at Shanghai after a four days' journey 
from Hong-kong, without any incident or accident. 



CHAPTER XI. 

HOW I PREPARED FOR AMERICA. 

ON our arrival at Shanghai, my cousin took 
me to see our aunt whose husband was a 
comprador in an American tea warehouse. A 
comprador is usually found in every foreign hong 
or firm. He acts as interpreter and also as agent 
for the company. He has a corps of accountants 
called shroffs, assistants and workmen under him. 
My uncle was rich and lived in a fine house 
built after European models. It was there that I 
first came in immediate contact with Western civil- 
ization. But it was a long time before I got used 
to those red-headed and tight-jacketed foreigners. 
"How can they walk or run?" I asked myself 
curiously contemplating their close and confining 
garments. The dress of foreign ladies was still 
another mystery to me. They shocked my sense 
99 



1 00 WHEN I WAS A BOY IN CHINA. 

of propriety also, by walking arm-in-arm with the 
men. " How peculiar their voices are ! how 
screechy 1 how sharp ! " Such were some of the 
thoughts I had about those peculiar people. 

A few days after, I was taken to the Tung Mim 
Kuen, or Government School, where I was des- 
tined to spend a whole year, preparatory to my 
American education. It was established by the 
government and was in charge of a commissioner, 
a deputy-commissioner, two teachers of Chinese, 
and two teachers of English. The building was 
quite spacious, consisting of two stories. The large 
schoolroom, library, dining-rooms and kitchen oc- 
cupied the first floor. The offices, reception room 
and dormitories were overhead. The square ta- 
I bles of the teachers of Chinese were placed at 
each end of the schoolroom ; between them were 
oblong tables and stools of the pupils. 

I was brought into the presence of the com- 
missioners and teachers; and having performed 
my kow-tow to each, a seat was assigned me 
among my mates, who scanned me with a good 
deal of curiosity. It was afternoon, and the 



HOW I PREPARED FOR AMERICA. 1 01 

Chinese lessons were being recited. So while 
they looked at me through the corners of their 
eyes, they were also attending to their lessons with 
as much vim and voice as they could command. 
Soon recitations were over, not without one or two 
pupils being sent back to their seats to study their 
tasks over again, a few blows being administered 
to stimulate the intellect and quicken memory. 

At half-past four o'clock, school was out and the 
boys, to the number of forty, went forth to play. 
They ran around, chased each other and wasted 
their cash on fruits and confections. I soon made 
acquaintance with some of them, but I did not ex- 
perience any of the hazing and bullying to which 
new pupils in American and English schools are 
subject. I found that there were two parties 
among the boys. I joined one of them and had 
many friendly encounters with the rival party. As 
in' America, we had a great deal of generous emu- 
lation, and consequently much boasting of the 
prizes and honors won by the rival societies. Our 
chief amusements were sight-seeing, shuttle-cock- 
kicking and penny-guessing. 



102 WHEN I WAS A BOY IN CHINA. 

Supper came at six when we had rice, meats 
and vegetables. Our faces invariably were washed 
after supper in warm water. This is customary. 
Then the lamps were lighted ; and when the 
teachers came down, full forty pairs of lungs were 
at work with lessons of next day. At eight o'clock, 
one of the teachers read and explained a long ex- 
tract from Chinese history, which, let me assure 
you, is replete with interest. At nine o'clock we 
were sent to our beds. Nothing ever happened of 
special interest. I remember that we used to talk 
till pretty late, and that some of the nights that I 
spent there were not of the pleasantest kind be- 
cause I was haunted by the fear of spirits. 

After breakfast the following morning we assem- 
bled in the same schoolroom to study our English 
lessons. The teacher of this branch was a Chinese 
gentleman who learned his English at Hongkong. 
The first thing to be done with me was to teach 
me the alphabet. When the teacher grew tired he 
set some advanced pupils to teach me. The let- 
ters sounded rather funny, I must say. It took me 
two days to learn them. The letter R was the 



HOW I PREPARED FOR AMERICA. 1 03 

hardest one to pronounce, but I soon learned to 
give it, with a peculiar roll of the tongue even. 
We were taught to read and write English and 
managed by means of primers and phrase-books 
to pick up a limited knowledge of the language. 
A year thus passed in study and pastime. Sun- 
days were given to us to spend as holidays. 

It was in the month of May when we were ex- 
amined in our English studies and the best thirty 
were selected to go to America, their proficiency in 
Chinese, their general deportment and their rec- 
ord also being taken into account. 

There was great rejoicing among our friends 
and kindred. For the cadet's gilt button and rank 
were conferred on us, which, like the first literary 
degree, was a step towards fortune, rank and in- 
fluence. Large posters were posted up at the front 
doors of our homes, informing the world in gold 
characters of the great honor which had come to 
the family. 

We paid visits of ceremony to the Tautai, chief 
officer of the department, and to the American 
consul-general, dressed in our official robes and 



104 



WHEN I WAS A BOY IN CHINA. 



carried in fine carriages. By the first part of June, 
we were ready for the ocean journey. We bade 
our friends farewell with due solemnity, for the 
thought that on our return after fifteen years of 
study abroad half of them might be dead, made 
us rather serious. But the sadness of parting was 
soon over and homesickness and dreariness took 
its place, as the steamer steamed out of the river 
and our native country grew indistinct in the twi- 
light. 



CHAPTER XII. 

FIRST EXPERIENCES IN AMERICA. 

AFTER a stormy voyage of one week, with the 
usual accompaniment of seasickness, we 
landed at Yokohama, in the Country of the Rising 
Sun. For Japan means " sun-origin." The Japa- 
nese claim to be descendants of the sun, instead 
of being an off-shoot of the Chinese race. 

During the four days on shore we young Chinese 
saw many strange things; the most remarkable 
being the steam-engine. We were told that those 
iron rails running parallel for a long distance were 
the " fire-car road." I was wondering how a car 
could run on them, and driven by fire, too, as I 
understood it, when a locomotive whizzed by, 
screeching and ringing its bell. That was the first 
iron-horse we had ever seen, and it made a pro- 
found impression on us. We made a number of 
ios 



106 WHEN I WAS A BOY IN CHINA. 

other remarkable and agreeable discoveries. We 
were delighted to learn that the Japanese studied 
the same books as we and worshiped our Confu- 
cius, and that we could converse with them in 
writing, pretty much as deaf and dumb people do. 
We learned that the way they lived and dressed 
was like that in vogue in the time of Confucius. 
Their mode of dressing the hair and their custom 
of sitting on mats laid on the floor is identical with 
ancient Chinese usage. 

When our brief stay came to an end, we went 
aboard the steamer City of Peking, which reached 
San Francisco in nineteen days. Our journey 
across the Pacific was made in the halcyon weather. 
The ocean was as gentle as a lamb for the most 
part, although at times it acted in such a way as to 
suggest a raging lion. 

San Francisco in 1873 was the paradise of the 
self-exiled Chinese. We boys who came to study 
under the auspices of the Chinese government and 
under the protection of the American eagle, were 
objects of some attention from the press. Many 
of its representatives came to interview us. 



FIRST EXPERIENCES IN AMERICA. 107 

The city impressed my young imagination with 
its lofty buildings — their solidity and elegance. 
The depot with its trains running in and out was a 
great attraction. But the "modern conveniences" 
of gas and running water and electric bells and 
elevators were what excited wonder and stimu- 
lated investigation. 

Nothing occurred on our Eastward journey to 
mar the enjoyment of our first ride on the steam- 
cars — excepting a train robbery, a consequent 
smash-up of the engine, and the murder of the 
engineer. We were quietly looking out of the 
windows and gazing at the seemingly intermina- 
ble prairies when the train suddenly bounded 
backward, then rushed forward a few feet, and, 
then meeting some resistance, started back again. 
Then all was confusion and terror. Pistol-shots 
could be made out above the cries of frightened 
passengers. Women shrieked and babies cried. 
Our party, teachers and pupils, jumped from our 
seats in dismay and looked out through the win- 
dows for more light on the subject. What we saw 
was enough to make our hair stand on end. Two 



108 WHEN I WAS A BOY IN CHINA. 

ruffianly men held a revolver in each hand and 
seemed to be taking aim at us from the short dis- 
tance of forty feet or thereabouts. Our teachers 
told us to crouch down for our lives. We obeyed 
with trembling and fear. Doubtless many prayers 
were most fervently offered to the gods of China at 
the time. Our teachers certainly prayed as they 
had never done before. One of them was overheard 
calling upon all the gods of the Chinese Pantheon 
to come and save him. In half an hour the agony 
and suspense were over. A brakeman rushed 
through with a lamp in his hand. He told us that 
the train had been robbed of its gold bricks, by five 
men, three of whom, dressed like Indians, rifled 
the baggage car while the others held the passen- 
gers at bay ; that the engine was hopelessly 
wrecked, the engineer killed ; that the robbers had 
escaped on horseback with their booty ; and that 
men had been sent to the nearest telegraph station 
to " wire " for another engine and a supply of 
workmen. One phase of American civilization 
was thus indelibly fixed upon our minds. 

We reached Springfield, Mass., in due time, 



FIRST EXPERIENCES IN AMERICA. 109 

where we were distributed among some of the 
best families in New England. As liberal provis- 
ion having been made for our care by the Chinese 
government, there was no difficulty in finding nice 
people to undertake our " bringing-up," although 
I now know that a philanthropic spirit must have 
inspired all who assumed the responsibility of our 
training and education. We were assigned two by 
two ; and it was my good fortune to be put into the 
hands of a most motherly lady in Springfield. She 
came after us in a hack. As I was pointed out to 
her, she put her arms around me and kissed me. 
This made the rest of the boys laugh, and perhaps 
I got rather red in the face ; however, I would say 
nothing to show my embarrassment. But that was 
the first kiss I ever had had since my infancy. 

Our first appearance in an American household 
must have been a funny occurrence to its members. 
We were dressed in our full Chinese costume, 
consisting of cue, satin shoes, skull-cap, silk gown, 
loose jacket and white linen blouse. We were both 
thirteen years of age, but smaller than American 
boys at eleven. 



IIO WHEN I WAS A BOY IN CHINA. 

Sunday came. After lunch, the lady and her 
son came up to our room to tell us to get ready to 
go to Sabbath-school with them. We knew very 
little English at the time. The simplest Anglo- 
Saxon words were still but slightly known to us. 

4 

We caught the word " school " only. We sup- 
posed that at last our ordeal in an American 
school was at hand. We each took a cloth-wrap- 
per and began to tie up a pile of books with it, a 
la Chinoise, when our guardians, returning, made us 
understand by signs and otherwise that no books 
were needed. 

Well, we four set out, passed Court Square, and 
walked up the steps of the First Church. 

" It is a church," said my companion in Chinese. 

We were confirmed in our suspicions on peep- 
ing in and seeing the people rise to sing. " Church ! 
church ! " we muttered, and rushed from the edi- 
fice with all the speed we could command. We 
did not stop till we got into our room, while our 
American friends, surprised at this move on our 
part and failing to overtake us, went back to the 
church. 



FIRST EXPERIENCED IN AMERICA. Ill 

We learned English by object-lessons. At table 
we were always told the names of certain dishes, 
and then assured that if we could not remember 
the name we were not to partake of that article of 
food. Taught by this method, our progress was 
rapid and surprising. 



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